On Friday. January 11th, a group of about 60 Ard Scoil students and staff filed into busses to head to Cork to see the pantomime in the Cork Opera House, Alice in Wonderland.

Once we arrived in the city, we were unleashed and ran off to do an hour or two of shopping. When we all gathered outside the Opera House at seven, we were laden down with (predominantly Penney’s) shopping bags to stuff under our seats in the theatre.

After a bit of a mishap with our seats, we settled in to watch what I think everybody agreed was the funniest show we ever had seen. This was good considering we didn’t understand a lot of the Cork based jokes.

The story was based on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and revolved around Alice, her aunt (the Dame), the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and their friends working together to overthrow the Red Queen and slay the “Shandon Dragon” Not only were the main cast fantastically talented but the dancers and supporting cast were also excellent. The set was extremely well made and |CGI was used to good effect on a screen in the background. We couldn’t get over the standard of choreography and costumes, along with the musical and some very clever mash-ups.

We all left for home that night feeling happy and wanting to stay for the next show. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone and if next year’s panto is any bit as good, I’ll be there in a heartbeat!

Lauren Mulvihill.

Chef Robert Barry of Robbie's Cafe Shows the TY's How It's Done

T.Y. Cookery Demonstration with Chef Robert Barry

During Home Economics class on Thursday morning, January 17th, the T.Y. students were treated to a cooking demonstration by Robert Barry from “Robbie’s Cafe”. He showed us how to make Cajun chicken burgers, chicken curry, an omelette, scones and brown bread

The demonstration was interesting and informative and showed how easy it was to make these complicated foods and dishes. While it was fun, though, towards the end we were practically crawling across the floor to get at the food!

We weren’t disappointed when eventually we got our hands on our plates and spoons. We’re still raving about the scones and burgers along with how amazed we were at those who managed to get an egg out of its shell with only one hand! I loved the description of one of the girls who said “the scone was like a cloud!”

We’d like to thank Robbie foe giving us a great morning and to let him know that he’ll be seeing us in his restaurant soon!

Lauren Mulvihill.

Les Miserables

On Tuesday morning, Music teacher Mrs. Lucey, organised for the first and second year students to go to the cinema to watch Les Miserable, the wonderful musical based on the famous novel of Victor Hugo. The film was superb and the performances of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway were magnificent, as indeed were those of the rest of the cast. The music was brilliant and the singing, recorded live, was fantastic. Students and teachers enjoyed the film immensely and we’d like to thank Mr. Eugene Tobin of S.G.C for facilitating our visit.